Royal View Hotel (Sapa), Sapa, Vietnam

The Royal View is just up the road from its sister hotel, the Royal Sapa. Its hillside position means that reception is actually on the fifth floor, with rooms above and below, accessible via stairs and a slightly wonky elevator. One of the newest hotels in Sapa, the Royal View has good facilities and fantastic views, but our big complaint is that the staff here treat you like royalty.

That is, they treat you like they are royalty, and are a bit miffed at having fallen on hard times and sunk to the level of serving you. Perhaps this is because they do such a steady trade in tour groups, they've settled into a 'guests are cattle' mentality. We've heard complaints about bad service and rooms that were smelly or noisy, though some guests have a pleasant stay. Twenty-four rooms overlook the valley and 18 rooms overlook the garden.

The ones we saw were spacious, well furnished, with writing desks, cable TVs, fridges, and polished wood floors. All rooms have electric heaters and though there are fireplaces in some, they are non-operational. There's a nice big fireplace in the lobby. restaurant serves French provincial fare at reasonable prices A swimming pool and sauna is under construction and should be ready by June 2008. Not the best luxury option in town.